Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never noticed this….
John 20:6 tells us that the linen cloth covering Jesus face was neatly folded, and was placed separate from the grave clothes. Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, ‘They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and I don’t know where they have put him!’ Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see.. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in.
Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying to the side.
Was that important? Absolutely!
Is it really significant? Yes!
In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.
When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it…
The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table until the master was finished. Now, if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.
The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, ‘I’m done.’
But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because……….. The folded napkin meant, ‘I’m coming back!’
He is Coming Back!
Blessings to you and yours!
Marie
Here’s the URL for the article. https://www.facebook.com/ShermontBaptistChurch/photos/a.218560688159850.66837.207115885970997/1280041892011719/?type=3&theater
We recently had guests for lunch and their youngest son was totally enamored with our black cat’s choice of sleeping/hiding places. He (the cat) loves to be totally covered up under quilts, blankets, pillows…actually under anything. We would pull back the throw, that the cat was sleeping under, and all he could see was two green eyes peering back and he would laugh that delighted two-year-old laugh. I could hear God in that laugh and knew that He was once again giving me a personal glimpse of Him through a child’s delighted laugh.
May God fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope.
A Satisfied Spirit 
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